In his August 4 Letter to the Editor, Mr. Thompson raised the question “Where did the Republicans Go?” Here’s my take with a touch of history.
President Eisenhower created the interstate highway system. President Trump celebrates 250 years of U.S. Democracy by wrecking the White House, Reflecting Pool and Kennedy Arts Center; hanging mugshots of himself on federal buildings; and refusing to finance Congressionally-appropriated programs.
President Eisenhower had a top individual income tax of 91 percent. President Reagan reduced that top tax from 70 to 28 percent.
President Eisenhower established the Department of Health Education, and Welfare (now the Dept. of Health and Human Services, HHS). President Trump appointed Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a science denier, as Secretary of HHS.
President Eisenhower expanded Social Security coverage and integrated it into the dedicated federal trust. Recent Republican presidents support taking Social Security out of the dedicated trust and into stocks, bonds, and Wall Street investors accounts.
